Diego Llorente shared his thoughts on Mourinho and his experience at Real Betis in an interview with El Mundo.

Llorente is one of the key players in Real Betis's dressing room. The 33-year-old defender is enjoying an important season with Betis, as the club has returned to the Champions League after 21 years. He did not play in matches against Real Sociedad and Levante, but started and performed well in a narrow away victory over Valencia. Tonight, he could get another chance against Real Madrid, the club where he developed through their youth academy.

Speaking about his Real Madrid debut under Mourinho, Llorente said: "I remember I was scheduled to make my debut in the previous match against Espanyol, but Adán was sent off, Casillas had to come on, the match became complicated, and I didn't play. The next day in training, Mourinho even explained to me why he couldn't bring me on. I was very surprised at the time because I was young and thought he didn't need to explain anything to me. In those details, he is unique. There are many behind-the-scenes things that fans and journalists don't see. You only see what he wants you to see, but he always uses certain details to protect the team and the club, and those details make the difference. I saw this when I worked with him at Roma. If there's criticism that has to be taken by someone who would look bad, he'd rather take it himself."

Llorente spoke about working with Mourinho at Roma: "He knows exactly what he wants. He protects his players, but he is also very strict and demanding. I only have words of gratitude for him."

Regarding playing in the Champions League with Betis at age 33, Llorente said: "During my days off, I stop and reflect a bit, looking back at the path I've taken and feeling very fortunate and grateful for the life I'm living. I come from a very ordinary family, with parents who both had very ordinary jobs. When I was young, my father would wake up at 5 a.m. to go to work, and then take me to Real Madrid's training ground in the afternoon. I deeply appreciate those things. We always seem to look at what we're missing, rather than what we have. I'm fortunate, and I realize that now. When I was 21, I didn't have that awareness."

On Pellegrini rotating him with Bartra, Llorente said: "Even when playing with my daughters, I don't like to lose (laughs). When I joined Real Madrid's youth academy at age 7, the club always taught me to compete regardless of the outcome. Of course, I'm not happy when the coach decides Bartra plays instead of me. But I turn that emotion into motivation for the next training session because competition ultimately benefits the team."

Regarding a serious injury in the 2024/25 season, Llorente said: "It's unfortunate that I couldn't participate in the 2025 Conference League final, but it was a resilient year of constantly overcoming obstacles. After such a serious injury, being able to play 30 matches and contribute afterward was very important to me."

On his everyday life, Llorente said: "I find all of this very normal. People often stop me on the street, but they're always very polite, and that's something we have to accept. I go to the cinema, and I take my daughters to the park... It's much harder for players like Antony or Isco; the moment someone recognizes them, everything becomes chaotic."

Llorente discusses the impact of the Premier League on the transfer market

On the transfer market, Llorente said: "In my view, this is a fundamental issue. The Premier League has been ahead of us on television rights for many years, and their financial fair play rules are completely different from ours. Every club has very powerful corporations and entrepreneurs behind them, people who support their financial reports. Here, regulations are very strict. So they can spend a lot of money, but it's very difficult for us to do that. This is a huge competitive disadvantage. To compete with the Premier League, the rules should be more flexible, but the figures there are inflated. Everton has 300 million euros in debt, but it's still viable because an entrepreneur or fund will pay for it. That can't happen here. All parties should take a step back and solve the problem. Unfortunately, the interests of many clubs don't align, and everyone isn't moving in the same direction. The solution isn't for La Liga to copy the Premier League's loss-making model, which is neither healthy nor sustainable, but I think La Liga's controls are too strict. We need to find a middle ground."

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